I don't like south-west London as a rule - it's expensive, full of rugger buggers, young bankers, and as a consequence is a bit of a cultural desert. Balham might have had a reputation for being a bit rough back in the Fist Of Fun days, but now it's basically the same demographic as Clapham, albeit with fewer Australians and maybe a few more wine bars, or pubs where the only beers are bottles of Peroni.

If you're looking at southwest London, try and avoid somewhere that depends on just one of either the district line or the mainline train to get in and out of zone 1. Neither are particularly reliable, and having a back up is a good idea.

Having said that, I like Brixton and Herne Hill, both of which are probably counted as south west London, but if you're going to be south of the river and can't get somewhere in the Borough/Bermondsey Road kind of area, then I like south east London - Peckham, Forest Hill, Brockley, Camberwell, Dulwich (pretty pricey) and Crystal Palace all manage to be nice and interesting enough too.

thanks, I work in victoria, don't socialise anywhere in london (except occasionally camden, or finsbury park) so being able to get back to guildford via clpaham junction fairly easily would be good, and being able to get to the gig part of london relatively directly would also be important, guess a decent cinema would also be good.

Liked SW for years and in the summer, the River Thames walks are lovely from Putney to Teddington and there is lots of glorious green space in Wimbledon, South Putney and Richmond. But I never liked living there. Culturally dull, very pricey, largely difficult to get around due to poor connections (places 5 miles apart can be a 5 minute drive or take 3 buses) and very transient.

Love SE though. Dan's suggestion is good and whilst CJunction isn't a good place to live (unless you like pricey bars) it is SO handy to be able to get to as it connects to huge chunks of the country.